"Only red meat conservatism, not political correctness, will help paint the map red."

Thursday, May 19, 2011

American Spring: Time to Stop Funding Terror Around the World

Job stimulus for terrorists, a housing crisis for Israel, moral relativism, oh my!
Barack Obama has many sinister friends who are egregiously subsidized by taxpayers, but at least they aren't terrorists. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his foreign patrons. At a time when Congress is searching for any morsel to cut from our domestic budget, Obama wants to expand foreign aid..to terrorists and terror filled nations. His push for expanded foreign aid comes as part of a broader endorsement of the "Arab Spring" uprisings in his latest foreign policy speech. Bin Laden is also endorsing them from the grave. Republicans need to call for an American Spring and categorically oppose all aid to enemy nations and entities in the 2012 budget.

Over the past few months, Obama has helped blow up the Middle East by supporting radical Muslim uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. Simultaneously, he has hypocritically remained silent on Bashar Assad's violent repression in Syria until this week when he announced vapid sanctions on the Syrian dictator. He is still refusing to recall his ambassador from Damascus that he sent in 2009 as a gesture to Assad. He didn't even call for tough measures against Syria's puppet master; Iran, while claiming to support the Iranian protesters, despite his indifference when it really mattered in 2009.

However, upon further cogitation, Obama's actions are actually quite consistent. In both Egypt and Syria, Obama has strengthened the hand of terrorist organizations, placing Israel in great peril.

His support of Mubabrak's demise in Egypt, has led to a popular groundswell for war against Israel fomented by the Muslim Brotherhood. His continued support for Hamas and Fatah in Israel (with the proviso that they denounce "violence", of course) has emboldened the Palestinian terrorists and jeopardized the besieged state from within. Finally, his calculated tepid response to Syria's aggression, despite his tough rhetoric, and refusal to break diplomatic relations, has emboldened arch terrorist Assad to incite a breach of the Israeli border. State Department officials told the New York Times that Obama is worried about undermining the Syrian murderer because he views him as an indispensable partner in final negotiations for an Israeli peace deal, a.k.a. forcing Israel to hand over the Golan Heights. Hence, Obama views Assad as to big to fail.

Obama has successfully imperiled Israel on all fronts, while using American money and diplomacy to undermine the prestige of both nations. As the ever prescient Caroline Glick succinctly opined last week, "Unlike his predecessors, Obama's interest in the Palestinians is not opportunistic. He is a true believer."

Now, in anticipation of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, Obama plans to ask for more aid for Egypt, Libya, and the Palestinians, even as he turns the screws to Israel by demanding their retreat from their heartland and live within the Auschwitz borders. Additionally, in his speech today, Obama opened the door for the division of Jerusalem and the right of return for millions of Arabs to the remaining morsels of Israel's diminished state. He wants to spawn job creation in the Middle East even as he kills jobs at home. Instead, Republicans should return the favor by cutting off all foreign aid to enemy countries.

In FY 2010, we spent $39.4 billion on foreign assistance, the highest amount since 1985. Obama is requesting $40.12 billion for FY 2012. Here is a list of the top ten recipients of foreign aid:

Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced a resolution (H.Res. 173) to prohibit the consideration of any bill that appropriates foreign aid for more than one country at a time. This will allow Congress to strike out the terrorist supporting nations from appropriations bills without falling into an administration trap of opposing aid to allies. Here are the terror supporting nations and entities that should be the first to be cut:

Palestinians and UNRWA

There is no such thing as a Palestinian, and the term only became popularized by the PLO in the '90s. We give them roughly $500 million annually and up to $1 billion on occasion (FY 2009). Additionally, we contributed $267 million in FY 2009 to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the organization that harbors Palestinian terrorists under the guise of humanitarian aid. We are the largest bilateral donor to UNRWA. If the Obama administration officials were left to their own devices, they would authorize hundreds of millions more in aid to the Palestinians.

Even for those who are too naive and uninformed to understand that the PLO-Fatah are a bunch of terrorists, must certainly agree that their unity government with Hamas is a deal breaker. A creation of a 22nd Arab state and 2nd Palestinian state (the first being Jordan) is absolutely inimical to our interests. They will make the Taliban look like girl scouts and they will serve as the most effective proxy for Iran. Obama's puerile platitudes stating that Hamas must renounce terror are as fatuous as a declaration that Obama must renounce stimulus spending. At present, any aid to the PLO is morally indefensible.

Egypt

Egypt receives about $1.5 billion in foreign aid per year. Additionally, Obama is asking Congress to forgive $1 billion more in debt and grant them another $1 billion loan. Before Obama helped overthrow Mubarak, Egypt provided stability in the region, helped fight Islamofascists, secured the chaotic border with Gaza, and committed to the treaty with Israel. As such, there was some justification for that aid.

Obama has obviated any justification for aid by paving the road for the Muslim Brotherhood to ascend to power. Thousands of Egyptians have been rioting in the streets calling for the end of the treaty with Israel, while the border with Gaza has been breached, allowing terrorists and weapons to flow across freely. Moreover, domestically, Muslim gangs have been massacring the Coptic Christians and repressing women. Not one penny of aid for Egypt!

Pakistan

Paukeestaun has received upward of $13 billion in taxpayer dollars over the past decade. Obama is requesting over $3 billion for this year, a slightly higher sum than Israel's aid. Pakistan is an absolute crack pot nation and perhaps the most Islamist concentrated nation in the world.

In theory, there is some merit to expending surreptitious help to the Pakistani government so they can maintain stability against their whacked out constituents, and ensure that nuclear weapons don't fall into the wrong hands. Also, there is clearly a lot of double-take and triple-take that is taking place behind the diplomatic scenes that we are not seeing. At this point, however, there are too many open questions about the Pakistanis that demand resolution before we give them another penny of taxpayer money. Moreover, Pakistan's newfound relation with China is extremely disconcerting.

Congressmen Ted Poe and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) are introducing legislation to prohibit foreign aid to Pakistan until they can demonstrate that they had no knowledge of Osama's whereabouts.

Lebanon and UNIFIL

For FY 2011, Obama asked for $246.3 million in total aid to Lebanon. In addition, Obama asked for $211 million for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon who helped Hezbollah during their war with Israel in 2006. Our aid to Lebanon has increased six-fold since the supposed Syrian pullout in 2006. However, Hezbollah has ostensibly taken over the government, and by extension; Syria, and by further extension; Iran. This is a no-brainer.

Libya

Obama is asking for $25 million for the Al-Qaeda backed rebels in Libya. This comes just a few months after he requested $1.7 million from Congress to train Qaddafi's military! His policy towards Libya is as incoherent and schizophrenic as could be. We should stay out and let both sides bleed.

Did Obama's Muslim charm offensive even help?

Unfortunately, even after sending billions of dollars to these terrorist cesspool nations, America's favorability ratings are still dismal in every one of these countries except Lebanon. According to a Pew Research poll, 42% of Palestinians hold a favorable view of Hamas and 61% view Hezbollah favorably. You just can't buy love in the Middle East.

Ideological distinctions in foreign policy are often ambiguous and vague. However, Obama, with his dyslexic foreign policy of supporting enemies and undermining friends, has provided Republicans with a historic opportunity to distinguish themselves. The President has wide latitude over foreign operations, but Congress holds the purse strings. It's time for Republicans to categorically reject the idiocy of giving taxpayer dollars to those who pray for our demise. It's time for our own American Spring.

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About Me

Yes, indeed there are red meat conservatives in the blue state of Maryland. I work in public policy and am involved in Maryland election campaigns. Also, a Contributing Writer to Redstate.com. We'll be providing you with legislative updates, Annapolis news, electoral politics, and exclusive political commentary from an unapologetic conservative viewpoint.